


Bad luck Ten

by pylador19



Category: NCT (Band)
Genre: Fluff, M/M, Read at Your Own Risk, but hopefully it's something, but i've wanted to post this for so long, i promise it's not the best out there, really badly written
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-04-15
Updated: 2017-04-20
Packaged: 2018-10-19 05:20:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 6,656
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10633077
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/pylador19/pseuds/pylador19
Summary: Luck has never been on Ten's side.





	1. Wow, sucks to be you

**Author's Note:**

> So yeah, I've been writing this since probably September. It's not the best, but damn it if I want a Taeten fic with badly written plot and a Brit trying to write in basketball somewhere when she's only played it like twice in her life, then I'm gonna have it! 
> 
> Ages are all over the place, I've made Ten's sister specifically younger for reasons. There are also two chapters because as I wrote the second part, I realised that it was a nice place to chapter it off. I'm currently in the midst of finishing chapter 2 and it should be up in a couple of days or so. Until then, (try to) enjoy.

If Ten could describe his life in two words it would be bad luck. He was pretty sure that from the moment he was born, bad luck was just attached to him and continued to plague him in his sixteen-year life so far.

It was bad luck that meant he was born slightly earlier than people were expecting. It was bad luck that made him fall over as a kid and chip his tooth, leaving a lovely scar above his lip in the process. It was even bad luck that brought him almost half a year of bullying before he found real friends after his family had moved from Bangkok to Seoul. Bad luck was just a part of Ten's life and though he tried to accept it and get on with it, he still found it particularly challenging.

"Why is it always me Doyoung? Am I a bad person? Am I really?"

Rolling his eyes, Doyoung looks up from his textbook and across the table to see Ten staring straight back at him with a pout on his face. "What is it now?" he asks with a sigh, not particularly interested in what Ten had to nag about this time at all.

"... it's about Taeyong. What else is it going to be?"

It was a well-known fact in their little group that since Ten had met him, he had the biggest crush on Taeyong. It was so obvious, and yet the only person who didn't seem was Taeyong himself. It took months for Ten to admit- more to himself than to his friends- that he had a crush. It took a couple of more months, some begging from Doyoung and Johnny to shut up him up, and a threat from Yuta, for Ten to grow a pair and finally find some courage to tell Taeyong. Except, this was Ten. It would never be _this_ simple for him. Fate just so had it that on the day he was finally going to admit his feelings, Doyoung had to break the news to him that Johnny had seen Taeyong getting cosy with Jaehyun, and a day after that, both of them admitted that they were dating. Once again, bad luck had come to plague Ten's life.

Sure, he was hurt an angry, mostly at himself for not admitting his feelings sooner, but Ten couldn't hate Jaehyun. They both played on the school's basketball team and Ten couldn't pick another player who worked as hard as Jaehyun did to bring good results. He was also kind, funny, and looked out for Ten if picked up any minor injuries. Jaehyun was just perfect, _too perfect_ , and Ten could see why Taeyong had fallen for him. He stood no chance.

The most Doyoung can do is offer him some sort of half smile and a really lame pat on the back. It was hard to sympathise with someone when he hadn't been through it himself. "I know it's hard right now, but give it time and you could meet someone who takes your mind off Taeyong" he tries, earning a scoff from his friend.

"Yeah like that'll ever happen" Ten grumbles, pulling his laptop out of his bag and plugging his earphones in, hoping that the terribly cheesy pop playlist he had created not only took his mind off Taeyong for a bit, but would also help him get his damn essay that was due in a couple of day started.

Seeing Ten so silent and concentrating so hard was a rare sight. In fact, he was concentrating so hard that he hadn’t noticed four other people join him and Doyoung. The only reason he does look up is because someone had accidentally kicked him. To his left, he sees Doyoung and Yuta laughing hysterically whilst Johnny frantically shakes his head and tries to say something. To his right, he sees Jaehyun saying something back to Johnny, laughing, his hand resting on Taeyong’s thigh who himself is concentrating on writing something into his notepad. The only time he seems to stop is when Jaehyun leans in to say something to him, making him look up and smile back. Ten tries to ignore the scene and get back to his essay. He’s already done a large chunk and if he worked some more he could get it done to the conclusion in no time. He tries to go back to typing, but his mind is on Taeyong again; how his full concentration is back on Jaehyun, how soft his gaze is as he looks at Jaehyun, how happy it looks. It’s extremely frustrating. Concentration lost, Ten huffs and pulls his earphones out, throwing them down so that they land on his laptop with a loud thud making the table go silent and all eyes turn towards him.

“Sorry. Having difficulty getting my essay together” he lies before Johnny pipes up with another comment and Ten gets lost in his own miserable thoughts again.

“Ten”

“… sorry, did you say something?” he asks

“I asked if you wanted to hang out with us later” Yuta repeats and the offer sounds good. A little bit of time to just have some fun and trying to take his mind off school work and others things (like he wasn’t a major procrastinator already).

“Shoot, maybe not” he remembers “My parents have lumped me with my sister so I don’t know if I can make it”

“Wow, sucks to be you” Johnny comments as Ten catches in the corner of his eye Taeyong lean in and say something to Jaehyun, resting his chin on his shoulder.

“Tell me about it”.

 

 

“Ten, why are onions called onions? Why are apples called apples? Why do they have the names that they have?”

Ten loved his sister, he really did. It was quite boring being the only child and he was ecstatic when his mum said she was pregnant. He didn’t care that there was going to be an eleven-year difference between them, he was going to make sure he was the best big brother regardless. Despite the love, he had for his sister, he couldn’t doubt that for a five-year-old she came out with the weirdest things sometimes.

“You know Tern you have the makings of becoming a great philosopher someday” he replies, holding onto her hand extra tight when they hit a huge crowd of people.

“What’s a philosopher?” Tern asks but Ten doesn’t answer, his concentration focused on finding the right moment for both to cross the road without being killed by the oncoming traffic. Finding the right moment, he about to pull his sister across, but she stops him with a tug of his sleeve.

“It’s your friends!” she exclaims and looks to where she’s point to the little café in front of them. His friends are sat by the window and Yuta looks to be telling a story before Doyoung looks up and notices Ten, nudging Johnny before the two of them start waving and Ten waves back.

“Can we go in?” his sister asks

“We can’t, we have shopping to put away” Ten replies, trying hard to resist the pout that appears on her face

“Please? It’s only fruit and vegetables. They’re not that important! Pretty please!”

With a resounding sigh Ten gives into her begging and lets her pull him into the café as a chair is pulled up for him. He barely has enough time to put the shopping bags down and say hi before Tern is tugging him again, this time to the front as Yuta, Doyoung and Taeyong decide it’s time for more cake as well.

“I can’t see the cakes they have” Tern whines as Ten lifts her up for a better view, proceeding to go through and decide which cake would be best for her. He concludes that the chocolate cake would be too much for her to eat and would spoil her appetite for dinner, the mint cake would be a waste of money as Tern would take one bite and wouldn’t eat anymore, the upside-down orange cake looked too sickly to even be contemplated. In the end, he settles for a nice, simple sponge cake with slices small enough that it wouldn’t spoil Tern’s appetite, and he wouldn’t get told off by his mum.

“What are you having?” Tern asks as Ten hums in thought

“I think I might have the same. But you must pinky promise me you won’t tell mum, otherwise we won’t have any more cake for weeks!” he replies as his sister nods and links her pinky with his.

From behind he can hear what sounds like some sort of laugh. Turning around, Yuta and Doyoung are stuck in a heated debate about which type of chocolate was perfect for cake, and Taeyong is looking at him and his sister with a wide smile on his face. It could be Ten imagining things, but Taeyong’s overall expressions looks like he’s looking at Ten and his sister fondly. Rather than let his imagination get the better of him, Ten just smiles back and quickly turns back to the front.

It happens again a second time when he’s sat back at the table. He has Tern sat on his lap and plays with her hair whilst she munches away at her cake. He had looked up to stop Doyoung from telling the others a story that was highly inappropriate for his little sister and once again saw Taeyong staring at both with the same fond expression he had the last time. When he’s caught staring again, this time he quickly diverts his attention elsewhere. Ten puts it down to him thinking his sister is adorable like everybody else seems to think.

 

 

The only time that Ten gets any real distraction from Taeyong is during an upcoming basketball match. With this match being against the school’s biggest rivals, both he and Jaehyun spent most of their time training and practicing for the big match. After many years of losing the title by just a mere few points, the team was so close to winning for only the second time in the school’s history and therefore not only were games taken seriously but the whole school came out in their dozens to support the team. Home advantage meant that the team had much more support compared to if they were playing away, and it was exactly what Ten needed to help calm his nerves as he walked onto the court and was met by cheers and chants from students and teachers who had come out to support them.

“Look, the others are waving!” Jaehyun says with a nudge, pointing to where their friends were sat as they waved excitedly at Ten and he waved back. With his parents too busy running their restaurant, it was rare that they could come to a basketball game. Ten didn’t mind, if he had at least one friend watching him, that was enough.

Ten’s job was simple, once the whistle blew and he had his hands on the ball he had to get it down the court towards Jaehyun who would then try to get the ball in the hoop for their team. The only problem was that whilst their school’s team was one of the best in the area, their opponents were just as good, sometimes better. To even have the chance of scoring, Ten had to be quick and stealthy with his possession of the ball, but even then, that wasn’t easy. Just five minutes into the match and already the opposing team were two points in the lead. It wouldn’t last long, not on Ten’s watch, as soon as he got the ball he launched the home team’s offence, shooting down the court as fast as he could and passing off to a teammate when he saw his chances of getting to Jaehyun were blocked. Jaehyun got the ball and shot it within the three-point line, the scores were now even.

Though the game was now in full swing, this was Ten, and luck never lasted with Ten for too long. With the scores at 4-7 to the away team, Ten jumped up to pass the ball over to Jaehyun before he was pushed to the floor by the opposing team, yelping out as he landed funnily on his ankle and fell into a heap. Murmurs filled the court as the school’s coach called for a time out and Jaehyun rushed over to help Ten up, holding him as he tried to put weight on his ankle and hissed in pain.

“I’m fine” he says through gritted teeth “Let’s get this over with”

“Ten I think you should go and rest” Jaehyun counters as Ten limps back to his position, insisting he was fine to continue playing as Jaehyun shook his head “Coach has already substituted you for another player, go and rest your ankle before it gets worse”

Reluctantly, Ten has no choice but to limp over to the side line and watch as the game resumed. He didn’t look back towards his friends, knowing they would be looking at him with worry, and kept his eyes to the floor, not wanting to watch a game he wanted to be playing in. The pain in his ankle wasn’t subsiding and hurt with every little movement he made. Despite his coach’s protests Ten still got up out of his seat and limped out of the court, hoping that by walking and putting weight on his ankle the pain would slowly get better.

Out of the court, Ten was halfway down the hall before one particular step had him shout out and fall to the ground as he grabbed his ankle, trying to get himself up and over to a seat, he collapsed again as the same sting coursed up his leg, biting his lip as tears threatened to fall from his eyes.

“Ten?”

Hearing Taeyong’s voice, Ten doesn’t even care that it’s just them two alone at that moment, or that Taeyong had rushed over and linked arms with Ten to try and help him up.

“It hurts too much” Ten gasps out, falling to the ground again as Taeyong takes in their situation, thinking of the next best action

“Okay, I’m gonna go get someone to help you. I’ll be right back” he replies, turning around to leave but Ten grabs his arm to stop him from leaving

“Don’t leave me alone!” he exclaims in a panic as Taeyong pulls himself out of his grip and takes his hand, running his thumb over Ten’s knuckles

“I know it hurts, but I need to go get someone to help me move you. I’ll be really quick and then I’ll come straight back, I promise”

Looking at Taeyong’s expression and seeing how serious he was, Ten nodded his head and allowed Taeyong to let go of his hand and run back into the court. It was funny how liking someone worked sometimes. Even as he was in so much pain, Ten really didn’t want Taeyong to let go of his hand.

 

 

The game finished with the scores at 14-12 to the home team. It wasn’t Jaehyun who had scored the winning three points, but someone else in their team who shot the ball in the dying seconds of the match. Whilst a cause of celebration that the school had managed to maintain their lead in the table, it was also a knock for the team as Ten would miss the next two games to rest the ankle he had sprained. It wasn’t so bad though, he had mastered the art of crutches in no time, and nothing was more enjoyable as having his friends takes turns to piggyback him up and down the stairs when they needed to.

In fact, Ten could get used to being treated like this. Until he could walk on his ankle without much pain again, he was going to milk this injury as much as he could. Yuta and Johnny would get his lunch, Doyoung even volunteered to let Ten rest his ankle across his legs, when Doyoung hated so much as anyone getting within feet of his personal bubble! What Ten liked the most however, was how much attention Taeyong had been giving him. Even just the slightest notion of discomfort and Taeyong would fuss over Ten, making sure he was comfortable enough or if he needed anything to ease the pain. The group put it down to the fact that Taeyong was practically their second mum and didn’t really seem to care about how much attention he was giving to Ten.

During that time, Ten loved it. Not just the attention that Taeyong was giving him, but how much more they were able to talk to each other and how he was able to understand Taeyong’s personality better than he did eventually. It didn’t last for too long though, Ten was soon enough able to start walking on ankle again, slowly starting to go back to basketball training. He still managed to get a few more piggybacks out of Johnny, but all that ended, especially the attention that Taeyong gave him.

It was around this time that Ten made a new friend. The new student from China was having difficulty making new friends- something that reminded Ten of himself when he first came to Seoul- so he took the younger under his wing and made sure that his friends were now the new kids friends.

“What if they don’t like me?”

“Please my friends are an odd bunch of people, you’ll fit right in”

Ten wasn’t sure if the look on his new friend’s face was from loss of translation, or feeling a little insulted that he had been called odd himself. Either way, once they had grabbed their lunch, Ten grabbed him and walked over to his usual table as fast as his ankle could carry him before the new guy chickened out.

“Sicheng, this is everybody. Everybody, this is Sicheng”.


	2. Jealousy is a bitch

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The second part which is written just as bad as the first part, but hopefully written slightly better to get it ending nicely. I warned you in the tags...

Ten had met Sicheng by complete accident. He was running late for school and came across Sicheng walking around the hall like a lost child. Turned out he had joined the school almost a week ago, but most of the students in his class weren’t that nice, instead of helping him they made fun of his accent and lack of language skills, leaving him to fend for himself. Ten took pity on the boy, he knew what it felt like to be in this exact situation. Unlike Johnny who was Korean-American and Yuta who had the confidence to go and make new friends despite not knowing any basics, Ten was in a similar situation and went through half of his first year at the school with no friends. It took Doyoung to come over and talk to him before he had met everybody else.

Ten wasn’t about to let Sicheng spend half a year himself without friends, quickly making sure that everybody else liked him as much as Ten did. In fact, they adored Sicheng, Yuta and Jaehyun more so than others. Sicheng was full of cuteness and everybody fell at their feet trying to help him master his pronunciation and expand his vocabulary. Sicheng appreciated how kind everybody was towards him, but until he felt comfortable enough around them he latched himself onto Ten, always waiting for him at the end of lessons, always sitting next to him during their lunch break.

“Is your name really Ten?” Sicheng asks one lunchtime with a frown

“No, it’s a nickname. My real name is Chittaphon Leechaiyapornkul, but nobody calls you by your real name in Thailand the nickname’s stuck since I was five”

“Chitta-what?”

The confusion written across Sicheng’s face only adds to the laughter across the table. The only person who didn’t seem to be laughing was Taeyong, he had his attention focused on his book he was scribbling in, but it wasn’t that difficult to see the scowl on his face.

“Are you okay?” Jaehyun asks

“Absolutely fine” Taeyong replies, but it’s pretty obvious he’s not okay. Jaehyun doesn’t push it any further though, leaving Taeyong to his own thoughts.

As stupid as it sounds, Ten begins to think that Taeyong’s attitude is directed towards him only. Anyone else would tell him it’s all in his head, but Ten can see clear differences in how Taeyong talks to everyone else and then to him. When he’s not around, Taeyong is his usual self who smiles and jokes with the others, but if Ten was to join, taking his usual seat in between Doyoung and Sicheng, the smile instantly fell from Taeyong’s face and he was back in the sour mood he was in previously.

Ten tried to talk to Taeyong to get to the bottom of this matter, but if he did Taeyong either brushed his question away or would turn to somebody else and begin a conversation with them so Ten couldn’t talk to him. If it was anybody else in the group Ten would have put it down to a bad attitude and left them to it, but this was Taeyong and Ten was Ten, he needed to know what was going on, even to just put his mind at ease.

 

 

With his ankle beginning to get better, Ten was allowed back to basketball practice. Even if it was just for half an hour or the first hour of practice, the more Ten went the quicker he could get back to playing the remaining games in the year. His fifth session back was an hour long and his coach did not waste time in getting Ten back into the swing of things. He wasn’t at his best, and his ankle ached only a tiny bit after the hour was up, but it was good to finally be back instead of spending evenings stuck at home or worse, with Johnny and Yuta.

When the session had finally finished Ten was on his way to meet Sicheng who would soon be finishing his Korean lesson. Walking his usual route Ten paused when he saw Taeyong exit the school’s art studio, fussing around with his bag in one arm whilst holding his art pad in another.

“Taeyong, hey!”

Ten doesn’t miss how Taeyong freezes at Ten’s voice, or how strained and fake his smile was. It didn’t put Ten off too much though, he was determined to get his answers today.

“H-hey Ten” Taeyong replies as his friend inches closer “Just come from practice I take it?”

“Yeah. If it wasn’t for Jaehyun telling the coach to back off I reckon I would be straight back on the crutches” Ten jokes, but Taeyong’s face turns from discomfort to concern

“But your ankle is okay, right?”

“Tae, it was a joke” Ten assures and the latter smiles. Finally, Ten’s getting his usual Taeyong back.

They begin walking down the hall together, small talk as they go. Ten asks Taeyong what he was working on in the art studio, but Taeyong hugs his art pad closer to him and says that it wasn’t ready yet, Ten would have to wait to see the finished product.

“Aren’t you walking home?” Taeyong asks when Ten turn down the opposite hallway from the exit.

“Yeah, but first I’m gonna meet Sicheng. Want to tag along?”

The mention of Sicheng’s name has Taeyong’s expression turn sour again “Oh. It’s okay. I’ll skip”

“Is something wrong?” Ten asks before Taeyong can make his quick exit “Because lately you’ve seen a bit… off”

“I’m fine. Totally fine” Taeyong replies but Ten can see right through his lies

“Are you really though? You might be able to fool everyone else but I can see you’re not fine. You can come talk to me, I’m just as much your friend as everybody else”

Taeyong still looks reluctant to answer, but Ten keeps pushing, he’s on the cusp of getting to the bottom of whether it’s him or not, and he’s not about to let it go.

“Look Ten I’m fine! Just drop it!” Taeyong eventually shouts “I already have Jaehyun on my case I don’t need anybody else, _especially you_ , bugging me as well!”

Taeyong wasn’t the type to lose his temper easily, he would usually keep his cool and exhaust every other possible method before losing his temper. To having him shout like this shocked Ten, and Taeyong looked guilty afterwards and looked like he was going to apologise, but Ten wasn’t going to let him get off that easily.

“I can understand you’re maybe stressed right now, but we all are. I don’t know what’s wrong, but your attitude stinks, and maybe next time someone tries to be a good friend you won’t shout at them for trying to help!”

Since that incident, neither had spoken to each other. That was almost a week ago and neither made a move to talk first or apologise first. The others could tell there was tension in the air, but nobody knew why. Doyoung had caught on that maybe it was something to do with Taeyong, but couldn’t quite put his finger on it. If he tried asking Jaehyun, he would just shrug it off as nothing. It he tried asking Ten, he wouldn’t even bother replying at all. Something was definitely up, but Doyoung wasn’t quite sure what it was.

 

 

February proved to be a hectic time for the group. Not because of school or anything, but because there were too many damn birthdays to buy presents for. Doyoung’s was on the 1st, Johnny’s was on the 9th, Jaehyun’s was on Valentine’s Day for crying out loud, and Ten’s was on the 27th. They were all school students, they didn’t have the money to do four lots of parties and presents, they were too poor to even get decent presents for them!  

That didn’t stop the friends however, they were determined to do something for their friends and then pray that their pockets filled up again before the next batch of birthdays arrived. That was when Yuta pulled off the surprise of the century and came up with such a cunning plan that not even Einstein could fault him; they would throw a party for all four of them on the same day, but make each of them think it was for someone else.

It was simple really; himself, Taeyong, and Sicheng- the only ones not to have February birthdays- would do the main bulk of planning. That included picking a cheap place they could all go to, silly gifts they could get their friends as opposed to expensive looking gifts, and organising what the others could do without them getting suspicious. Then Taeyong was sent with Johnny to find a cake for Ten, Yuta went with Doyoung to get a cake for Jaehyun and Johnny, and Ten, Jaehyun and Sicheng were left to buy Doyoung’s cake. It was such a great plan that if perfectly pulled off, Yuta was going to be basking in his success for weeks to come.

Being put with Jaehyun gave Ten the chance to ask him if he knew what was wrong Taeyong. Since their little incident Ten had tried to get some alone time with Jaehyun to ask. That wasn’t too much of a difficult task; Ten had the perfect opportunity to do it in basketball practice, and he had so many moments to simply ask, but when the moment arrived he chickened out and changed the conversation to somewhere else. With Sicheng leading the way to the cake shop (one that Yuta specifically picked out so paths wouldn’t cross) Ten hung back with Jaehyun, forming small talk to lead up to the moment.

“So, uh, do you know what’s wrong with Taeyong?” he asks “It’s just that… how do I put this? His attitude has been really bad lately”

Jaehyun lets out a nervous laugh and nods his head, sighing as he replies, “He’s probably stressed with a project that’s due in, you know how he gets with them”, biting his lip before continuing “I thought it was because he was pissed off that we broke up, but it was all mutual, so I don’t really know what’s going on in his head anymore”.

“Wait, you two broke up?”

“Yeah, almost two weeks ago”

Oh, that certainly changed Ten’s perspective. It hadn’t even looked like they had broken up, they still acted like they normally would around the others when they were together. Did everybody else know? Or was this something that they wanted to keep a secret for as long as they could? Being the awkward person he was, Ten was terrible at comforting people. A pat on the back did have Jaehyun smiling and laughing again though, and with that he ran forward to help Sicheng with directions. The boy had gotten so lost that they were now heading into a part of the city they were pretty sure school children of their age should not be wandering in to.

 

 

With the knowledge of why Taeyong was possibly in the mood he was in, Ten started to think of a new strategy to try and start talking to him again. He missed talking to Taeyong and wanted him back on good terms again. The issue wasn’t in not wanting to talk to Taeyong, but having the guy actually be there to talk to.

Jaehyun was right, whatever project Taeyong had thrown himself in this time had completely consumed him. During break time, he was holed up in another classroom doing work instead of seeing his friends, and during lunchtime he had scoffed his food down and left the hall before Ten even had the chance to pay for his lunch. Seeing him after school was proving impossible as well; with his ankle back to full strength and wanting to be team captain for the next season, Ten had to put in a good show to his coach he was fully capable of leading the team. Everything was so action packed and tightly scheduled that it even felt like Ten didn’t have any room to breathe. All he wanted was to go see Taeyong and apologise, but that was an impossible task in itself!

 

 

The 1st of February had arrived and that meant only one thing; Doyoung was the birthday boy, and he was ready to party. The day had been planned that Ten would meet Doyoung at a certain time and walk to the pizza place that had been selected. Jaehyun and Johnny had been told to get there for around the same time Doyoung and Ten would arrive so all four were conveniently outside at the same time to walk in together.

Inside and anybody who was dining at place at the time would have gotten quite the surprise to hear three very loud voices shout “surprise!” to four very confused and touched friends. Four different cakes, four different presents, and Yuta could gloat for weeks on end that his master plan had miraculously worked. Ten had to admit, his friends were certainly creative when it came to his presents. A card that said he was ten today, a badge accompanying it with the number ten on it, it looked like his friends had found anything that had something to do with the number ten and had brought it for him. He didn’t care, Ten found it hilarious, and he was actually touched that his friends had put some genuine thought into getting these gits.

With the amount of pizza consumed, it was a surprise that they could eat some of the cake for dessert. The cake were all various sizes with different coloured icing, and each a different flavour. Doyoung was the brave soul who attempted to eat the remaining half of his chocolate cake by himself (he was the type of weirdo who if given a jam cake would just eat the icing and give the cake to someone else. Though the cheapest cake the shop had, Jaehyun’s wallet still cried when he helped pay for it).

“Guys, I think I need to go to the hospital. I’ve made a terrible mistake”

Needless to say, by the time they were finished, Yuta was gonna have to help him home and shove his face into a bush before he threw up everywhere. Ten wished he now walked the same route just to see if it happened.

“Are you walking home?”

In all honesty Ten was thinking about calling his mum to see if she could come pick him up, but turning and seeing Taeyong look so small with his eyes glued to the floor- even if he had been a bit of a dick these past few weeks- Ten could say no, and finally saying goodbye to the others, made his way home with Taeyong.

 

 

The walk home is in complete silence. If Ten has anything he wants to say, it gets caught in his throat and ends up being something he just simply shrugs off. It’s not like Taeyong’s making any effort to talk anyway, he just has one hand in pocket and the other fidgeting with his bag strap. It’s torture. Ten now definitely wished he walked the same route at Yuta and Doyoung.

“Did you have fun tonight?” Taeyong eventually asks

“Y-yeah it was fun. Really good fun. I think we were all surprised that it was for the four of us. So, uh, yeah, thanks for that” Ten replies

“You shouldn’t thank me. Believe it or not Yuta was the one who orchestrated it all. He deserves the thanks”, and back into silence they go.

The atmosphere was deteriorating again and Ten couldn’t take it any longer. Why would Taeyong technically ask him to walk home together if he was going to keep his mouth shut the whole time? And then when he did speak, only did so for a couple of sentences? What was going on? What was that guy’s problem?

“I’m sorry” Taeyong pipes up again “For how I’ve been acting these past couple of weeks”

“I asked Jaehyun if he knew what was up and he mentioned about you two breaking up… you know, you both don’t act like two people who’ve just broken up”

There’s a faint outline of a smile on Taeyong’s face, but Ten quickly wonders whether he should have kept his mouth shut and should have forgiven him instead. “Whenever there’s a break up, people always expect something to have happened like an argument or one of us cheating on the other. It wasn’t any of that, it was just… we both kind of felt it was time to move on. Like, we love each other, but we’re not in love with each other. Does that make sense?”

“I’m trying to make it make sense… but it’s not” Ten replies truthfully and makes Taeyong laugh

“What I’m trying to say is that we still care for each other, a lot, but we don’t have romantic feelings for each other. I guess we both kind of felt like that around the same time and decided to end it before we got bored of each other. It’s quite natural really. Feelings for people can change overtime”

By the end of his explanation both have stopped walking and Ten has to be the first to tear his gaze away and carry on walking shooting a stuttering mess of “W-well I’m glad you’re still friends” 

The point where they both headed off in different directions couldn’t come soon enough, but before Ten can say goodbye and shoot in the direction of his house, Taeyong grabs his wrist and waits for Ten to turn back around before letting go.

“I… I still have to give you your birthday present” he states

“But you gave me my present earlier” Ten replies lamely, causing Taeyong to laugh again as he pulls a present out of his bag and hold it in his hands, hesitant to hand it over.

The first thing Ten notices about the present is its size; it’s a medium rectangular size and when Taeyong finally hands it over, it’s pretty heavy as well.

“C-can I open it now?” Ten asks as Taeyong nods his head

“I had no idea of what to get you… and I didn’t know we were gonna do the joint party for all of you. I asked Doyoung what you would like a-and he mentioned you thought some of my drawings you’d seen before were pretty good so I drew some more… of you… for you…”

Throughout Taeyong’s mess of an explanation Ten is staring at the gift in front of him. The gift was heavy because it’s a picture frame, and in the picture frame are different sketches that Taeyong has done of Ten. There was the one from the day Ten was sat at his laptop, some from his basketball matches, and even one that Ten recognised from a picture Jaehyun of took of the mess of Doyoung trying to piggyback him up the stairs. It was the truth that he loved how Taeyong drew. The latter would say he wasn’t the best, but all of his friends would disagree. It’s a simple gift, but it’s one of the best gifts that Ten has ever gotten.

“You hate it, don’t you?” Taeyong asks

“N-no!” Ten exclaims “I love it. Nobody’s ever done this for me before”

Taeyong’s looking at him again with the same fond expression he had been when Tern was with them in the cake shop. Except this time, she’s not there with them, and this time somewhere in Ten’s mind he’s hoping it means something more because Jaehyun and Taeyong are no longer together.

Taeyong doesn’t act on that fantasy though. Instead he studies Ten’s expression, trying to see if he’s really telling the truth about liking his present, before smiling in satisfaction.

“You’re back in basketball practice now, aren’t you?” he asks

“Yeah” Ten whines “It’s getting to the last few games of the season and we’re so close to winning, the coach is pushing us so hard that even Jaehyun is starting to feel it now”

“But it’ll all be worth it when you get to lift the trophy and have the whole school admire you all for the rest of the year” Taeyong counters

“I guess so” Ten replies “And you and the others will be there, right?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for the world”

Before the moment’s ruined both decide they should be getting home before getting worried phone calls from their mum’s. Nearly seventeen or not, Ten wasn’t an adult yet, and the fear of his mum’s worried rant when he got home gave him the incentive to get home quicker.

“Goodnight Taeyong”

“Happy birthday Ten”

Ten waits until he’s around the corner before clutching his present to his chest and skipping the rest of the way home. The smile on his face doesn’t come off for another two weeks.

 

 

 

(Extra story notes:

\- Contrary to popular belief, Taeyong and Jaehyun still maintain a good friendship post breakup

\- The news of their breakup is more devastating to Yuta and Johnny who had deemed them the 'perfect couple'

\- Sicheng is still adored by the group, adored by some people more than others (*cough* Yuta and Jaehyun *cough*), Doyoung's in constant fear that this will eventually lead to some sort of fight or argument breaking out to see who can be the most affectionate

\- Doyoung had heard through the grape vine (i.e. Johnny) that Ten and Taeyong had been getting even closer than they had been previously, almost identical to how Taeyong had done with Jaehyun... but that's another story for another time)

 

 

 

~~(In fact their first kiss comes after a thrilling game finale to decide the basketball champions, but that would be spoiling you)~~

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So yeah, I tried my best. I just really wanted a TaeTen and this has been in the works since Septemeber... September!

**Author's Note:**

> I literally looked up basketball for dummies online to help write that really bad section of the basketball match. So yeah, this is the first part, the second part should be up in a couple of day after I've finished writing it. Until then!


End file.
